Friedman’s stipulation that bosses and workers have equal power requires bosses and workers to have equal information. In the fifty-five years since his essay, the growing dominance of private equity has destroyed that precondition. Workers often don’t know who their bosses are, much less what their business strategy is or whether they plan to drive the company into bankruptcy and profit off the scraps. If knowledge is power, private equity has managed to hoard full control for itself, with the blessing of the federal government.
